American Rehab Charleston
4-7pm EST
Restoring Charleston
7-11pm
Dear Friends,
Three years ago, my family & I started a wild ride that culminates with a seven hour marathon of fourteen episodes on the DIY network tonight. Wow! It's still hard to believe all that has happened.
In some ways this traces back to people asking me curious questions as I worked; "How do you do what you do? How do you fix up a home that's been condemned? or Where do you start when a house is so
bad ?" Those questions lead to this blog five years ago because as much as I love taking on these houses we call '
Pig's Ears', I have also grown to really love writing. Now, after this three years and two shows on TV, people keep asking my family, friends, & I this one question more than any other, "How did this happen?" It's an amazing, unbelievable story and I told my wife I should write a book titled,
"Dude! How'd YOU get on TV?"
For those still wondering, here's a brief time-line: I started writing this blog in October 2011, with a post titled, What is a Pig's Ear? In the fall of 2013, I received an unexpected email from a producer in New York that lead to a couple rough videos with our family, a three minute test reel with a production crew from California in November, and then the two week filming of a pilot episode in the spring of 2014 that premiered as American Rehab Charleston in August of that year. This did well enough for us to have a chance to complete the six episode season from Dec. '14 - March '15 which was televised that fall. ARC rated well and we bought three houses in 2016 to rehab with DIY. We filmed and renovated two of these homes this past summer that make up the eight episode season of Restoring Charleston that concludes tonight.
I'm not a TV guy. And by that I mean I had no experience, family, or contacts in the television world. I've made a lot of friends in the business in the last three years, but when I started, I knew no one. For me, this experience has been like walking around in a boarded up, condemned house alone without a flashlight; missteps, falls, bumping into stuff, and stepping on nasty things. More than once in the last three years I've wished I could turn back time to make a small, but impactful adjustment. There were countless anxious moments for myself and on behalf of my family, long periods of self-doubt, and all consuming exhaustion that isn't quite over just yet. However, it's been a blast. So much fun, it's challenging to convey in brevity. However, like renovating a property that no one else wants, it's been an
adventure and who doesn't love a good adventure.
After three years, I want to take a moment to thank my wife Diann for her encouragement and support. She's done an amazing job of juggling her own work, the needs of our children, both our families, and the frequently shifting demands of the productions. We've canceled/postponed a couple of vacations, so I owe her and our kids a big one, once the dust settles.
Finally, thanks for your notes, texts, emails, calls, and messages of support. And thank you for watching and for telling others about the shows.
With love and appreciation,
Trent
